The Oklahoma City Thunder announced the unfortunate news that No. 2 pick Chet Holmgren will miss the entirety of his rookie season due to a Lisfranc injury on his right foot.
The injury occurred this past weekend during a Seattle Pro-Am game as he contested a LeBron James drive to the basket.
Thunder general manager Sam Presti met with the media Thursday morning to discuss the injury. The biggest reveal is that Presti doesn’t believe the injury will hamper Holmgren beyond this season and will not have long-term effects.
Let’s take a look at some of the more noteworthy quotes from the presser.
Sam Presti’s message to OKC fans: “Let him know you care. Let him know you have his back. Cause he’s gonna have yours.”
Says Chet is a special guy and will be great for OKC and the community for years to come.
— Brandon Rahbar (@BrandonRahbar) August 25, 2022
Sam Presti says that if you asked him before the lottery that he might get the #1 pick or the #8 pick or he could have Chet Holmgren, he wouldn’t have let you finish the sentence. He’d take Chet. And he still would.
— Brandon Rahbar (@BrandonRahbar) August 25, 2022
Sam Presti on Chet’s skinny frame being a factor: “It’s an acute injury, it’s an impact injury. It’s a figment of the alternate reality of the Internet. But it’s not reality.”
Other words, no his frame had nothing to do with it.
— Brandon Rahbar (@BrandonRahbar) August 25, 2022
Sam Presti on Chet Holmgren “he wants to be really good, he cares a lot. The thing I’m really impressed with is that he isn’t an outside in guy, genuinely he loves basketball, he loves the team, he is highly intelligent…he is mature…he has never experienced an injury.”
— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) August 25, 2022
Sam Presti says Chet Holmgren is already lifting weights for upper body strength and is able to shoot the ball without putting weight on his foot.
He says Holmgren is still trying to improve and spirits are high.
— Nick Crain (@CrainNBA) August 25, 2022
Presti says this is a “contact injury” that was the result of force down on Holmgren’s foot.
This is unrelated to his weight/size/frame.
— Nick Crain (@CrainNBA) August 25, 2022
Presti says Holmgren's injury is a "rupture of the tendon" and "not a fracture."
— Joe Mussatto (@joe_mussatto) August 25, 2022
“Long term prognosis is obviously positive” “He’s going to make a full recovery”
Sam Presti on Chet Holmgren— Andrew Schlecht (@AndrewKSchlecht) August 25, 2022
Sam Presti said the long-term prognosis is very positive with this and consulted with 3 of the top 5 doctors in the country
Also confirmed Chet will require surgery
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) August 25, 2022
Sam Presti said the Lisfranc injury is common in football players but not basketball players and said it's a contact injury
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) August 25, 2022
Sam Presti said a date is still not set for surgery: "We don't have something specific but it will be in the coming weeks."
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) August 25, 2022
Sam Presti on Chet's injury: "I don't think the condensation on the floor was a factor."
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) August 25, 2022
Sam Presti on fans bringing up frame concerns with Chet due to this injury: "It's a figment of the alternate reality that's the internet."
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) August 25, 2022
Sam Presti also said that the NBA sanctions the Pro-Am's and approved the Jamal Crawford Pro-Am
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) August 25, 2022
Sam Presti: "When we have more information, we'll let you know."
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) August 25, 2022
